A Sad Time to be an MMA Fan.

Jon Jones on fighting Anderson Silva:  "It's not that he won't fight me or I won't fight him. To be dead honest, it's that we both have a lot to lose and we both respect each other a lot and we both are striving for personal greatness. I don't want to crack on his greatness and I don't want him cracking on my greatness.

"We're in completely different weight classes. We both have sponsor deals and things that are really important to us and a big part of that sponsorship package is being a winning-being a champion. Having us fight each other means one of our championships goes away.

"I respect Anderson Silva so much that I don't want to be the guy to beat him. I don't want to lose to him either. It's a lose-lose situation for me."

Source: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/7/10/3150278/ufc-jon-jones-vs-anderson-silva-we-could-both-lose-sponsorships#storyjump

 My comments:

The UFC, where the best duck the best. Basically they are all (GSP, Silva, Jones) trying to build artificial legacies. They all want people to think they are the best and as long as they don't fight each other people will. Real fighters want to challenge themselves, not duck.  Before GSP got injured he would whine about moving up to 185lbs and what a big deal it is.  It's 15lbs!  Guys at HW sometimes fight guys 60lbs bigger than themselves.  Not to mention GSP is 194lbs when he enters the cage at WW. 

For years people have wanted to see GSP vs Silva and Dana never makes the fight.  He says the UFC is where the best fight the best but he is so afraid of losing a cash cow he never does what he claims.  Now people want to see Silva vs Jones and the UFC has no interest in that either.  This is not what martial arts is about, sponsorship deals and artificial legacies.  This stuff makes me sick.  Back in Pride guys moved up and they had top level 205lbs guys fight at HW and it was very exciting.  I suppose the days of real fighters who are looking for a challenge, not hype, is over.  It's a sad time to be an MMA fan when this is how the Champions think.

I suppose in the end I just hate the mindset fighters have these days. They should want to be the best and want to challenge the best. Dana says the UFC is where the best fight the best, great, I just want to see it if that is a true statement.  I can never call someone the GOAT who openly ducks challenges. All of these guys are talented fighters but their attitude on things made me lose respect for them.